


Out of reach

by mariesg16



Category: Imagine Dragons (Band)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2017-12-22 00:18:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariesg16/pseuds/mariesg16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

Title: Out of reach  
Author: Mariesg16  
Pairing: None so far. Might change in the next chapters.  
Rating: Mature  
Summary: Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.  
Disclaimer: Imagine Dragons belong to themselves. This is fiction, so none of what you will read actually happened (at least, as far as we know…*grin*) I am not making any money out of this, so don’t sue…you’ll be disappointed with my meagre belongings if you do anyway. Also, English isn’t my mother tongue, so keep that in mind if you come across weirdly written words or sentences that don’t quite make sense. Finally, this is a slash fic (if you don’t know what that is, look it up : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction). If you don’t like those, than skip this post and don’t read it.

 

Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest. There were members of various bands as well as managers and technicians scattered around the huge outside venue, leaving no stone unturned, all pursuing the same goal. 

Daniel couldn’t even begin to comprehend what had happened earlier that night. Imagine Dragons had been one of the numerous bands playing at the Weenie Roast festival that day and their performance had been electric. The crowd had been singing at the top of their lungs, dancing around and feeding the band with a crazy amount of energy. After their performance, they were given a few hours off to walk around, watching other bands perform, taking pictures with fans and relaxing before they had to hit the road once more. Each of them had been all smiles when they had headed back toward their tour bus. Daniel had been the first one to get on the bus, and as he had turned around to laugh at one of Ben’s jokes, he could clearly remember that all of his bandmates were only a few steps behind him. Yet, only a minute later, Dan was nowhere to be seen.  
At first, all of them had thought that the singer must have encountered a fan that had somehow made his or her way into the bus parking lot, too genuinely nice to turn him or her away before he agreed to have his picture taken. Rolling his eyes, Ben had hopped back out of the bus to go look for their stray bandmate. A few minutes had passed before he came back onto the bus, looking genuinely concerned after he couldn’t find his friend. Wayne had laughed, sure that the singer was fooling around, hidden behind the bus and laughing at their expense. Yet, here they were, over two hours after Dan had disappeared, and no one had even caught a glimpse of the singer. 

They had talked with members of other bands, with fans and with the festival management, but it was as if the singer had simply vanished. Now, they were franticly looking into any restroom stall, any tour bus, any vendor’s tent, still desperately hoping that Dan was going to jump out at any moment and laugh at the way he had succeeded in scaring the heck out of them all.

Daniel ran a shaky hand through his hair. To be honest, he was scared shitless. Yes, Dan could be immature at times, but with his ADHD and complete inability to stand still for more than a few minutes, there was no way that the singer was still hidden somewhere. And yes, Dan could sometimes forget how much time was passing by when talking with fans, but being MIA for over two hours was ridiculous even by his standards. With the festival attracting some shady people and Dan being way too trusting for his own good, the odds were not in their favour. They hadn’t called the cops yet, but seeing the franticness of their tour manager, they would most probably be called any moment now.

Daniel was once more heading toward their tour bus, hoping that Dan had come back to it as they were looking for him and was now waiting for them on their small kitchen couch. He was climbing the steps of the bus when he heard a distinctive: “We just found him! We just found him!”.


	2. 2

Title: Out of reach – Chapter 2  
Author: Mariesg16  
Pairing: None so far. Might change in the next chapters.  
Rating: Mature  
Summary: Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.  
Disclaimer: Imagine Dragons belong to themselves. This is fiction, so none of what you will read actually happened (at least, as far as we know…*grin*) I am not making any money out of this, so don’t sue…you’ll be disappointed with my meagre belongings if you do anyway. Also, English isn’t my mother tongue, so keep that in mind if you come across weirdly written words or sentences that don’t quite make sense. Finally, this is a slash fic (if you don’t know what that is, look it up : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction). If you don’t like those, than skip this post and don’t read it.

Daniel’s mind went blank. His eyes scanned the people around him, looking for the person who had just screamed. He wasn’t too hard to find, as he was waving his arms in the air franticly and shouting at the top of his lungs.

Daniel stumbled back down the steps of their tour bus, sprinting toward the man. It was as if time, which felt as if it had been running like sand through their fingers ever since Imagine Dragons’ lead singer had gone missing, was suddenly moving in slow motion. No matter how fast the drummer ran, he felt as if he was underwater, his legs heavy and his movements clumsy. Daniel got to the man just a second after Wayne and all three of them started heading out of the festival’s venue. Even tough he had always considered himself to be in good physical shape, within a few minutes, Daniel could barely breathe. His chest was throbbing and his lungs gasping for air, but there was no way that the drummer was stopping. 

As they turned into a dark alley, about two streets down from the venue, paranoia started to set into him. This didn’t look right. No matter how hard Daniel squinted, he couldn’t see a damn thing in front or around him. As Wayne’s waving arm caught him across the chest, Daniel realised that he wasn’t the only one flying blind in this dark and deserted alley. What if this was what had happened to Dan? What if the singer had somehow been talked into this dark alley, where he couldn’t be seen from the street and where his cries for help would stay unheard because of the festival’s loud music drowning everything else? As Wayne’s flailing arm hit him once more, this time squarely in the mouth, Daniel just felt blessed that he wasn’t alone. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, the drummer grabbed his friend’s hand, to reassure himself as much as to make sure that he wouldn’t inadvertently get knocked out by the guitarist.

Now walking slowly, their breathing still erratic, the two musicians moved forward. By now, they couldn’t even see the street from where they stood. Yet, relief washed over Daniel as he spotted Dan, slouched on the ground a few feet ahead of them. Two women were crouched in front of the singer, talking to him in soothing tones while keeping a safe distance from his distraught form. The man from earlier was standing behind them, looking awkward, as if he desperately wanted to help but didn’t know how to. Wayne let go of Daniel’s hand and closed the distance separating him from the singer. Yet, as soon as he touched Dan, the singer recoiled as if he had just been burnt. Taken back, Wayne froze.

From his position, Daniel knew exactly what was bound to happen. He could see every muscles in the singer’s body tense, could see his blue eyes zoom in on Wayne, no hint of recognition whatsoever in them as he tightly closed his fist. Daniel barely had time to push Wayne out of the way, the stunned guitarist scarcely avoiding taking a hard punch to the side of his head. As Wayne fell to his butt, still dumbfounded, Daniel grabbed the singer’s swinging arm and pinned it against Dan’s body before also pinning his friend’s other arm to keep him from injuring himself or someone else. Thankfully, as tall as Dan was, he was still quite slim, because with all of the adrenaline still pumping through the singer’s body, Daniel had trouble matching his strength and restraining him. Yet, he held on, whispering into his friend’s ear, like a mantra, “It’s ok. Calm down. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

After what felt like an eternity and a half, Daniel felt his friend’s body go lax, as if his energy, adrenaline and strength had left him all at once. He could hear how ragged the singer’s breath was and could feel the other man’s heartbeat against his chest. Carefully, the drummer started rubbing soothing circles on Dan’s back, ready to restrain him once more if the need arose. Feeling his friend shiver against him, Daniel suddenly realised that it has started raining and that they were both soaked. As adrenaline was leaving his body, the drummer could feel the cold seeping into him. He turned to Wayne, who was still sitting on the gravel beside them.

“Could you go get a few warm blankets from our bus? I’m going to help him up, but since it’s too dark in here to check if he’s injured or not, walking him back to our bus might take some time and I wouldn’t want him to freeze to death in the process.”

Wayne kept his eyes on the singer, unmoving.

“Wayne?”

The guitarist finally locked eyes with Daniel, before nodding and getting up. The drummer could tell that his friend’s cheeks were wet, but whether it was from the emotion of the situation or from the weather, he couldn’t be completely sure. He turned back to Dan, whose breathing had improved in the last few minutes. The singer was still panting, but no longer gasping for breath. However, his shaking had increased, wracking his slim frame and making his teeth shatter. 

“Let’s get you up and back to a warm and safe bus, big guy.”

It took a bit of manhandling, since Dan, clearly exhausted, wasn’t much help, but Daniel got his friend to his feet. Breathing hard once more, he pulled the singer flush against his side, griping him tightly around the waist to keep him upright and started the journey back to their tour bus. After only a few steps, as he was wondering if he should try carrying the singer, Daniel felt some of the weight resting on him lift. He looked over and saw the man from earlier with one of Dan’s arm over his shoulders, bearing some of his weight. The drummer gritted his teeth. 

He knew that this would logically get his friend back to their tour bus a lot more quickly and easily, but after the stress that they had been subjected to, the drummer had to repress the urge to push the other man away from his friend. At that very moment, the only thing filling his head was the overwhelming need to protect his own. His instinct was urging him to defend the singer against anyone who might pose any kind of a treat to him, at any cost. Yet, with freezing rain pouring down and soaking them to the bones, he knew that he had to concentrate on getting them onto the tour bus if he wanted to avoid hypothermia. There, they would be safe and could assess the singer’s injuries.

They were nearly at the entrance of the venue when Daniel heard the growling of an engine heading toward them. He turned a bit, putting himself between the oncoming vehicle and the singer. The headlights of the vehicle made Daniel squint his eyes, but relief flooded through him as he realized that it was one of the festival’s golf carts. Exhausted and freezing, he nearly wept when Wayne jumped out of the cart and wrapped his bandmates in thick blankets. 

Using every little bit of energy that he had left, Daniel walked the singer over to the cart and sat him down gently, briefly thanking the man that had found his friend, before huddling as close to Dan as was humanly possible, trying to share what little warmth the blankets helped them produce.

By the time the cart finally stopped beside their tour bus, even the blankets were soaked. Daniel realised that his friend, still huddled tight against him, was no longer shivering. Before his sluggish mind could process if that was a good thing or not, Dan was ripped from him and taken into their bus. Daniel was also being hushed inside, but it was as if his brain couldn’t keep up with what was happening. As he was eased down onto a bunk, the drummer closed his eyes as the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come! Kudos and reviews may motivate me into posting a new chapter faster! :P


	3. 3

When Daniel woke up, the first thing that he noticed was the vibration. After over a year on the road, he had come to associate a vibrating bunk on a moving bus with a homey and soothing environment. The second thing that he noticed was that his left arm was completely asleep. That in itself wasn’t too out of the ordinary, since he was often teased by his bandmates for having some of the weirdest sleeping positions, and often woke up with sore or numb limbs. 

The drummer tried to shift, but something seemed to be preventing him from moving. Sighing, he tried rolling over once more, with to no avail. All that he got for his trouble was a grunt and the feeling of a smooth hand moving against the bare skin of his ribcage before setting down over his heart. Now, that got his attention.

Daniel slowly cracked his eyes open. When he saw Dan, sound asleep and huddled against his side with an arm laying over his chest and his head resting on the drummer’s shoulder, the events of the previous night flashed before his eyes. 

He didn’t remember much of what had happened after he had gotten onto the golf cart, but could recall feeling the chill of the night, combined with cold rain, seeping into his bones. Taking in his surroundings, he noticed that someone had traded his drenched clothes for a comfy pair of sweatpants. As he moved his right hand over to his sleeping bandmate, he was glad to feel dry and warm cotton under his fingertips. Thinking about how much of a pain it had probably been for the rest of his band to strip and change the two of them while they were unconscious, Daniel couldn’t help the small smile that touched his lips. He could picture Ben doing the manhandling as Wayne tried to help as much as his skinny frame would let him. 

Daniel gently pushed his hand under the singer’s worn-out t-shirt and sighed with relief as his fingers came into contact with warm skin. He could still recall just how cold Dan’s skin had been to the touch as they had walked toward the venue together. As a ridiculous amount of blankets had been piled over the two of them, Daniel couldn’t see if his friend was injured or not, but the fact that he was now warm and that his heartbeat felt strong and steady could only be seen as a good sign. 

“He kept asking for you.”

Daniel jumped as a soft voice broke his train of thoughts, but soon relaxed as his eyes focused on Wayne, who was crouching beside their bunk. The guitarist softly ran his hand through Dan’s hair as he met his eyes.

“We barely had time to get him into dry clothes before he came back to his senses. He started muttering your name right away. When he opened his eyes and he realized that he couldn’t see you, all hell broke loose. Although I doubt that he meant it, he actually elbowed Ben in the groin…which wasn’t funny at the time, but kind of is now. Anyway, we took him to your bunk and he calmed down right away. He just huddled close to you and fell asleep.”

Daniel ran his hand over the smooth skin of the singer’s back. His friend sighed and seemed to burrow even deeper again him. The drummer smiled.

“As we were changing him, we noticed quite a few scrapes and bruises, but what concerned us the most was the bruising around his neck. It kind of looks like someone tried to strangle him…”

Wayne’s voice shook as he once again ran his hand through the singer’s hair. 

“I guess we’ll need to wait for him to be fully awake before we get to know what really happened out there, but there was some blood on his hands. When we washed it off, we couldn’t see any wound or cut that could have bled like that, so he hopefully kicked the ass of whoever mugged him.”

Daniel’s right hand left the warmth of the singer’s back, coming to rest on top of the other man’s hand, which was still laying over his heart, and entwined their fingers.

“He was pretty cold when we took him onto the bus, but nothing too serious. You also warmed up pretty fast, so we agreed to keep you guys on the bus instead of going straight to the hospital. But when he wakes up, we’ll need to decide if we should make that trip to the ER or if we need to go to the police station.”

Daniel could only nod as the two of them silently watched over their friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Out of reach – Chapter 4  
Author: Mariesg16  
Pairing: Dan/Daniel  
Rating: Mature  
Summary: Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.  
Disclaimer: Imagine Dragons belong to themselves. This is fiction, so none of what you will read actually happened (at least, as far as we know…*grin*) I am not making any money out of this, so don’t sue…you’ll be disappointed with my meagre belongings if you do anyway. Also, English isn’t my mother tongue, so keep that in mind if you come across weirdly written words or sentences that don’t quite make sense. Finally, this is a slash fic (if you don’t know what that is, look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction). If you don’t like those, than skip this post and don’t read it.

When Daniel opened his eyes, the first thing that he noticed was the lack of vibration. That meant that their tour bus was no longer moving and that they were stopped at a rest stop, a gas station or a convenience store. That also meant the possibility of getting a nice cup of coffee (the machine on their tour bus only seemed able to make incredibly bitter coffee), a snack (he was starving) and, if he was lucky enough, a quick shower. Even a rest stop‘s lukewarm water would feel heavenly right now.

The drummer stretched, feeling sored all over, his muscles aching. That is when the events of the previous night came rushing back to his memory.

Looking around, the drummer couldn’t help but wonder if he should consider the fact that Dan was no longer in his bunk as a good or as a bad sign. So, pushing back the covers of his bunk, he got up. His legs still felt a little unsteady, but it was nothing a couple of Advil and a strong cup of coffee wouldn’t be able to fix. Walking toward the front of the bus, Daniel instantly knew that he was alone in the vehicle. When you travelled with a bunch of musicians, you got used to the constant noise, as someone was always tuning a guitar, singing a tune or drumming a beat somewhere. It drove him absolutely crazy at first, but after a while, like the vibration of a moving tour bus, the constant noise surrounding him started to feel like home. It reminded him of when he was little, of when the sounds of his mother cooking in the kitchen or the sound of the TV playing in the living room meant that he was safe and that the people he loved where close by. The complete silence on the bus felt weird and unfamiliar.

As he stepped out of the tour bus, Daniel couldn’t help but smile. He had hit the jackpot! A rest stop! That meant that, if he had enough time, he could get all of his previous wishes: a cup of strong coffee, a sweet snack AND a shower. Deciding that coffee had to come first, he was heading for the rest stop’s little convenience store when he saw Wayne walking his way. The drummer’s smile faded as he saw the frown on his friend’s face.

“Hey…is everything ok?”

Wayne kept his eyes on the rest stop’s restrooms.

“I don’t know. Dan is in the restrooms. He looks ok, physically….like, he didn’t look like he was in any pain when we walked off of the bus….but he hasn’t said a single word since we woke up. You know how he usually never stops talking…and when I told him that we were heading for the convenience store, he nodded and stayed in the restroom.”

Daniel’s eyes were now also on the little building where restrooms and showers could be found by travelers.

“I didn’t want to leave him alone in there, especially after what happened, but Ben told me that maybe Dan just needed some time alone. But… I have a bad feeling about this…”

Daniel looked at his friend for a few seconds before giving him a small push toward the convenience store. 

“I wanted to take a shower before we left. So I’ll keep an eye on him. Don’t worry about it.”

It was as if Daniel had just lifter a hundred pounds off of his friend’s shoulders. The guitarist looked relieved.

“Thanks man, I’ll feel a lot better knowing that he’s not alone in there.”

Daniel squeezed his friend’s shoulder and walked back to their tour bus. He made quick work of grabbing clean clothes, a bar of soap and some towels. Walking by Dan’s bunk, he hesitated shortly, but ended up grabbing some fresh clothes for his friend as well. By now the drummer felt wide awake, the adrenaline that was once again flowing through his veins masking all of the small aches and pains that he had felt when he had first woken up. 

The walk to the restrooms was short, yet, as he pushed the door of the building open, Daniel could feel and hear himself panting, his heart pounding in his chest. First, he walked to the showers section of the building. When he found that room empty, he left his things on one of the benches, and left the room once more, intent on looking for the stray singer. When he opened the door of the men’s bathroom, he once again didn’t know whether to be relieved or scared. 

Dan was there, and looked like he was still in one piece, which was a relief, but he was leaning with his hands over one of the porcelain sinks, staring at his own reflection in the dirty mirror hanging overhead. If the singer heard him come into the bathroom, he gave no sign of it. 

Daniel walked over to his friend. Once he was right behind Dan, his reflection now also visible in the bathroom mirror, their eyes met and the drummer’s heart broke. Dan’s eyes, usually so full of life and mischief, were now dull, distant and slightly unfocused. Slowly, Daniel moved forward until his chest was pressed to his friend’s back, and wrapped his arms around the singer’s waist. He was relieved when Dan didn’t tense or move away, but seemed to relax and melt into his arms instead, leaning some of his weight on his friend.

Still keeping eye contact in the bathroom mirror, Daniel pressed a soft kiss to his friend’s cheek and nuzzled his neck a bit. The fact that he got a small smile in return made him smile as well. 

“How about a shower? I can’t promise hot water of decent water pressure, but I have a bar of your favourite soap and some clean clothes waiting in the next room.”

The only response was another small smile and a slight nod. Daniel stepped back, taking the singer’s hand in his and leading his toward the shower section of the building. Since it was still very early in the morning, it seemed like the band and its crew were alone at the rest stop. No one seemed to be in the restroom building at the moment.

Daniel started undressing, keeping his eyes on the ground. Of course, over the years that they had spent on the road together, the drummer had probably seen him band mates naked or half naked more often then he should be confortable with, and they had never been shy with one another. But Dan didn’t seem like himself (and rightfully so) that morning and he wanted to give his friend some space and some illusion of privacy. So the drummer entered one of the shower stalls and stepped under the spray of water (lukewarm…no water pressure…just like he had thought it would be), and closed his eyes, trying to get his muscles to relax. The aches and pains were coming back with a vengeance now and the drummer could only thank God for the fact that they were not playing a show that night. 

As he turned around under the spray of water, his eyes fell on Dan. His friend had also undressed, but instead of entering one of the other shower stalls, he had walked into the drummer’s. Now, as he stood there, naked and obviously cold, he looked as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. Daniel could nearly hear to wheels turning in his friend’s head. He probably wasn’t confortable, after the events of the previous night, with the idea of being naked, alone and vulnerable in his own stall. Yet, even if joining the drummer had seemed like a good idea at first, now that he was actually in his friend’s stall, self-consciousness and fear of rejection was setting in.

“Don’t think too hard, or you’re gonna hurt yourself.”

The shy grin he received let Daniel know that he had hit the bull’s eye. He took his friend’s hand and placed him under the spray of water before rubbing the bar of soap between his hands and bringing the foam to Dan’s head, gently massaging his scalp as he cleaned the singer’s hair. It took a few moments, but eventually, the tension tightening his friend’s muscles started to ease. The singer closed his eyes as the drummer ran the bar of soap over his skin, washing away the sweat, the grime, the tension and the fear from his body. 

Once he was done, Daniel put the bar of soap to the side and carefully started rinsing Dan’s short dark blond hair. He was so focused on the task at hands that he nearly jumped when he felt gentle hands start running the bar of soap across his own skin. Dan, who now seemed exhausted, was leaning back slightly against the wall of the shower stall, his legs shaking faintly. Yet, he looked determined to give the drummer the gentle attention that he had just received. 

That was probably one of the reasons why Daniel found it so hard to believe that someone could willingly hurt the singer. Dan was such a sweet, giving and easy-going individual. Of course, at times, he could drive his band mates completely nuts with his pranks, silly jokes and constant chatter, but even though the drummer had wrestled with the singer more times than he could count (don’t let Dan’s small frame fool you, the guy could definitely hold his end of a friendly bout), he could never imagine wanting to harm the other man. As his eyes focused on the bruise on the singer’s neck, looking red and angry in the dim lighting, he felt his throat tighten.

As warm hands were now soaping up his hair, Daniel leaned over and pressed a light kiss on the singer’s chest, right over his heart. Dan’s movements faltered a bit and, as his that light kiss had opened Pandora’s Box, tears gathered in the singer’s eyes and his breathing hitched. 

Daniel took the soap from his now shaky hand, put it on the side and gathered the singer in his arms. At first, his friend seemed intent on keeping as much of his composure as he could, holding himself stiffly, but after a moment, the emotions got the better of him and he started sobbing openly. Daniel felt tears streaming down his own face as he held the singer close to him, rubbing his back soothingly. The sobs wracking the other man’s body were breaking his heart all over again.

For a while, it truly felt like Dan was breaking apart. His whole body was shaking and he was gasping for air. Yet, after what felt like an eternity, the sobs became soft sniffles, as Dan leaned most of his weight against the drummer, clearly exhausted. By now, the lukewarm water had turned uncomfortably cold and both men were shivering. Daniel turned his head, trying to make eye contact with the singer. What he didn’t expect was for his lips to come in contact with his best friends’ in a light kiss. 

Daniel wasn’t what some people would call a romantic…but he could say that it literally felt like the whole world stopped spinning as they lips met. He couldn’t even say which one (if any) of them had initiated the kiss, but it felt so right, especially after the rollercoaster of emotions that they had been on for the last few hours. It was like they were both taking and giving comfort to the other. Daniel opened him mouth, and a warm tongue met his. The drummer could feel tingles running from his head to his stomach and toes, his whole body humming happily. 

Unfortunately, the world started spinning again and both men jumped at the sound of a door opening and closing. They had to remember that they were in a very public place, and that Wayne was probably going out of his mind, wondering if they had been abducted by aliens by now. Daniel broke the kiss and one look at the now flushed singer was enough to bring a smile to his face. He brushed his lips against the other man’s once more before turning off the water and wrapping the both of them in towels, making short work of drying himself and helping the singer do the same.

Once they were both dry, they stepped out of their shower stall. Thankfully, they could hear water running in another stall, which meant that no one would notice the both of them coming out of the same shower stall with small (and suspicious) grins on their faces . They both got dressed and walked out of the building. 

By now, Daniel was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to have enough time to grab a coffee and a snack before their tour bus had to leave again, but as a warm hand slipped into his, he realised that he felt strangely ok with that.

Yet, as high as he felt right now, he knew that it was only a matter of time before their rollercoaster took a new dip. Once on the bus, they would need to talk about what had happened the night before. Their band mates, their manager …heck, Daniel himself, wanted to know what had left the singer so scared and weary. It was like coming across a train wreck. Your curiosity made you want to take a peek, while the sensible part of your brain screamed that you shouldn’t. Yet, you couldn’t help but take a look, even knowing that you might have trouble getting over the images running through your head later on.

Still, as he pulled Dan closer to him and their eyes met, the drummer knew that, whatever had or would happen, they would get through it together.


	5. Out of Reach - Chapter 5

Title: Out of reach – Chapter 5  
Author: Mariesg16  
Pairing: Dan/Daniel  
Rating: Mature  
Summary: Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.  
Disclaimer: Imagine Dragons belong to themselves. This is fiction, so none of what you will read actually happened (at least, as far as we know…*grin*) I am not making any money out of this, so don’t sue…you’ll be disappointed with my meagre belongings if you do anyway. Also, English isn’t my mother tongue, so keep that in mind if you come across weirdly written words or sentences that don’t quite make sense. Finally, this is a slash fic (if you don’t know what that is, look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction). If you don’t like those, than skip this post and don’t read it.

 

The Imagine Dragons tour crew had always felt more like a family then mere coworkers to Daniel. He loved every single one of them and knew that the feeling was mutual. Yet, when Ben bodily pushed everyone out of their crowded tour bus until only the four of them remained, the drummer felt like he could finally breathe. A single glance at Dan told his that he felt exactly the same way.

Of course they wanted to know what had happened. Of course they wanted to make sure that Dan was ok. Of course they wanted to know if they could do anything to help. After all, that was what friends were for: caring. But right this moment, space and time was the only thing that could ease the tension that was palpable on their tour bus.

Wayne headed for the lounge area situated at the back of their bus, the other three members of the band silently following him. They had done this so many times that it nearly felt like a second nature by now. Every time one of them felt down, sad or angry, every time something overwhelming happened, good or bad, they retreated to the small lounge, closed the door and either talked things through, or sat together in silence, simply drawing comfort from the closeness of the others.

Dan sat on one of the couches and the drummer sat right beside him. As soon as his butt hit the cushions, the singer took that as his cue and laid down, resting his head on Daniel’s lap. Ben and Wayne sat on the other couch, and the latter picked up a guitar and started gently strumming its cords, lightening the mood instantly. Daniel ran his fingers gently through the singer’s hair as Dan took a deep breathe and started talking.

“Last night, after the show, I was walking around the venue. It was dark and with my hood up, I could go around the stands, watch the other acts and just unwind a bit without being recognised. I love the atmosphere at festivals…”

Dan’s voice trailed off for a bit before he took a shaky breath and went on.

“Then this guy ran up to me. He was freaked out and breathless. There was mud all over him and blood was running from his nose. He told me that he and his friend had been mugged and that I had to help him. I told him that the security stand was close by, and that they would be able to get him and his friend some help. But he told me that we didn’t have enough time to alert them and that I had to help him. As we were talking, I didn’t realise that he was moving backwards slowly. With the noise of the venue, I always had to move toward him in order to hear what he was saying. “

Dan’s fingers dug slightly into the drummer’s thigh and he closed his eyes.  
“The first thing that I knew was that we were behind one of the stands. From there, we were completely hidden and no one could see us, but I wasn’t too worried about it then. The guy looked like he was in complete shock and I didn’t think that he could have hurt anyone in that kind of state. I kept telling him that the security stand was the other way and that we had to get help for his friend. That’s when someone grabbed me from behind. I remember being pushed to the ground as someone wrapped his hands around my throat. I couldn’t breathe.”

Dan’s hand moved up to his throat and he gently rubbed the abrasions and bruises that littered his smooth skin.

“It becomes a little fuzzy after that. I remember that when I came to, we were in an alley. It was dark and cold. The guy from earlier, not the one who had chocked me, but the one who had told me that he had been mugged, was trying to push my pants down. He didn’t know that I was awake, so he had his guards down. He was probably shocked as hell when I brought my knee up to his groin before punching him in the jaw. He stumbled back, and the other guy, the one that had chocked me, grabbed me from being once more. To be honest, I have no clue what happened after that. When I woke up on the bus, I thought that it had all been some kind of twisted dream. So when I got to the restroom and saw the marks on my neck…I guess it make it all sink it. It wasn’t just a dream…”

Dan’s voice trailed off one more and the drummer took that as his cue to fill in some of the blanks.

“We looked everywhere for you. We had been looking for hours when some guy come up to us yelling that he had found you in some alley. When we got to you, you were terrified. It was like you didn’t know where you were and couldn’t recognize any of us. You nearly punched Wayne.”

Daniel grinned as he caught the wide-eyed look that the singer threw Wayne’s way. The guitarist smiled and shrugged, still strumming his guitar.

“It was raining and we were all freezing, but we managed to get you back to the bus. “

Wayne’s smile took on an evil turn as he saw the opportunity to lighten the mood.

“Daniel forgot to tell you that he passed out from the cold. Like a wimp. Oh, and you guys both need to loose some weight. Getting you out of your wet clothes was a struggle to say the least. Ben was holding you in place as I was pulling as hard as I could….which took FOREVER as I’m not exactly Hulk Hogan. Oh, and when we saw that Dan wasn’t wearing any underwear under his jeans…awkward….”

By the time the guitarist was done, all four of them were giggling, the stifling tension once again draining out of the room.

If there was ever a time to get anything out in the open, Daniel figured that this was it. As Dan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, the drummer bent down and gave him a small peck on the lips. As he straightened back up to look at his bandmates, instead of chocked expressions, what he received was a wink from Wayne and a thumb up from Ben. And just like that, he knew that everything was going to be ok, that as long as they all had each other, there was nothing that they couldn’t do or get through.


	6. Out of Reach - Epilogue

Title: Out of reach – Epilogue  
Author: Mariesg16  
Pairing: Dan/Daniel  
Rating: Mature  
Summary: Disorganized chaos. That was the only thing that came to Daniel’s mind as he glanced around, his heart pounding in his chest.  
Disclaimer: Imagine Dragons belong to themselves. This is fiction, so none of what you will read actually happened (at least, as far as we know…*grin*) I am not making any money out of this, so don’t sue…you’ll be disappointed with my meagre belongings if you do anyway. Also, English isn’t my mother tongue, so keep that in mind if you come across weirdly written words or sentences that don’t quite make sense. Finally, this is a slash fic (if you don’t know what that is, look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_fiction). If you don’t like those, than skip this post and don’t read it.

 

Daniel could feel adrenaline running through his veins, could feel his heart pounding in his chest. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

“Have you seen Dan?”

Ben shook his head, a worried crossing his features. Ever since that fateful night that had taken place exactly a year ago, where Dan had vanished and been found bruised and terrified, the drummer always made sure to keep an eye on his friend. Even when they were on opposite sides of a room, he subconsciously positioned himself so that the singer was in his line of sight. He tried to be discreet about it, not wanting to suffocate his friend, but even thinking about loosing him or about something bad happening to him again scared him shitless. Yet, he had somehow slipped through Daniel’s fingers again. He felt like he had been looking everywhere, but couldn’t manage to find his best friend.

Daniel forced his fingers to unclench. After Dan had told them what he remembered of that night, they had gone to the police station and filled a report. Both of the men that had attacked and nearly raped Dan had been arrested shortly after that and would thankfully be being bars for quite a few years. So Daniel had no reason to be this wound up.

The drummer tried to force a deep breath into his lungs, but it got stuck in his throat as someone came up behind him and warm hands covered his eyes. Daniel tensed for only a few seconds before a familiar chuckle met his ears. He instantly relaxed and a wide smile crossed his face.

The drummer turned around, the hands on his eyes being dislodged in the process, and his eyes met a pair of shinny blue orbs. Their smiles matched as their mouths met softly.

“I’m going to have to seriously think about putting a GPS on your ass.”

Their eyes locked as they stood close to each other. Dan’s features turned uncertain and a nervous look crossed his face. Now the drummer was intrigued.

“What did you do?”

Dan smiled once more before pulling a necklace out of his pocket and swinging it before the drummer’s eyes.

“Happy anniversary, baby. I know it’s not a ring or anything fancy, but….”

Dan was interrupted by soft lips meeting his once more, and grinned.

“I love it. Thank you.”

After fastening it around the drummer’s neck, Dan leaning in and they kissed once more. But before things got too heated, Daniel smirked and whispered in the singer’s ear.

“You’ll have to wait until tonight to get your gift, but I’m sure that it will be worth the wait.”

Their smiles matched and their excitement was palpable.

You could say that Daniel had mixed emotions when he thought about what they now all referred to as “that night”. Of course, if he could go back in time, he would do everything and anything in his power to make sure that his best friend didn’t get hurt the way he had a year ago. Yet, he couldn’t help but wonder if all of the emotions that the situation had stirred hadn’t been the little push that they needed to finally act upon the attraction that had always shimmered between them. As he hear a soft “I love you” whispered close to his ear, his mind shifted back to the present and he whispered those three smalls words right back to the singer.

Hand in hand, the walked back toward their tour bur, both feeling excited, eager and blissfully happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews and kudos might motivate me to add a new chapter faster.....*grin*


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